1，Today’s the day, Clash fans! Clash Royale, the first spin-off to Supercell’s hit Clash of Clans, is now available worldwide on the App Store and Google Play.

For those not in the know, Clash Royale is a game of short battles on small maps that are played out live against real opponents. You’ll choose 8 different troop types to bring into battle, each with their own mana cost — but you’ll only have access to 4 at a time as they’re randomly drawn from your deck. The objective of the game is simple: destroy the enemy’s castle (or more of the enemy’s towers) before the time runs out.

More troops are unlocked through chests (that you’ll win through play), giving players a ton of room for strategy. Which combination of troops works best for you? Which troops are most worth leveling up to increase their strength? And just how can you get around the enemy’s strongest troops while still protecting your own territory?

The game has been available for a few months in select regions, and in most (if not all) of those regions, the game has become the #1 grossing app. In short, expect Clash Royale to be a huuuuuuge hit.（source：gamezebo.com ）

2，Last year, research firm GfK predicted the smartphone business would slow down in 2015 as developed markets reached a saturation point on the technology. The company today released its global sales figures for 2015, and they indicate the market slowed down even faster than anticipated.

For 2015, GfK reported 1.3 billion smartphones were sold around the world, producing combined revenues of $399.2 billion. That represents a 7 percent growth in unit sales over 2014, but just a 1 percent jump in revenues. GfK had initially forecast 2015 to see unit sales growth of 14 percent, which was already considerably slower than 2014′s year-over-year jump of 23 percent.

“Despite a record fourth quarter – and a strong performance in 2015 in general – there are mixed results across countries,” GfK director of trends and forecasting Kevin Walsh said. “Local factors, rather than regional and industry trends, are increasingly driving markets. Diverging economic trends, device saturation, mass market adoption, politics, social change and even sport have an impact on smartphone demand and prices at country level.”

As for which countries are still driving growth, GfK pointed to India and its 34 percent year-over-year jump, mostly thanks to sales of low-end smartphones under $100. Unit sales in Egypt grew 27 percent year-over-year, while Poland saw smartphone uptake jump 36 percent. Formerly hot markets like China and Latin America were down in 2015.

For 2016, GfK is forecasting unit sales up another 7 percent to 1.4 billion, with revenues up half a percent to $401.3 billion. All regions are expected to see growth in unit sales except for Latin America.

“In 2016, we expect local country factors rather than global trends to impact the market,” Walsh said. “Key markets in Emerging Asia and Middle East & Africa are forecast to drive unit growth. While 2016 will be another year of global growth, it will be more important than ever for businesses to understand individual country trends and market segments.”（source：gamesindustry.biz ）

3，Zynga has returned again to the Electronic Arts well of talent. The social mobile game company has named former EA executive Frank Gibeau as its new chief executive.

Zynga made the announcement today, after Gibeau served for seven months on its board of directors. Mark Pincus, the founder and prior CEO, now becomes the executive chairman and stay on board at the company working closely with Gibeau, the two men said in an exclusive interview with GamesBeat. The move is a sign that Zynga is more urgently focused on competing at the highest levels of mobile gaming, which has become a $34.8 billion industry (as research firm Newzoo predicts).

The change comes at a critical time for Zynga, which is trying to make mobile games in a more profitable way. The company has been producing breakeven results for a couple of years, but it can’t seem to produce the breakaway hits that have kept smaller companies at the top of the top-grossing mobile games charts. Zynga has 10 games lined up for launch this year, and Gibeau said he is psyched about “engineering their success.”

“When I joined the board in August, I was supposed to do one day a week,” Gibeau said. “I couldn’t help myself. I was two days, three days, and now four days a week. I was having a lot of fun. I have always been a competitor. I was blown away by the things I saw in my last seven months. There’s a lot of talent here blending the art of game development with a great collection of brands and financial resources.

“When Mark asked me to be CEO, it was a no-brainer. I see all the ingredients of a successful turnaround here.”（source：venturebeat.com）

4，The Chinese publisher NetEase earned $2.7 billion from its portfolio of PC and mobile games in the year ended December 31, 2015, almost double the amount it earned in 2014.

For people in Europe and North America, NetEase is arguably best known for its longstanding partnership with Blizzard, where it served as the publisher of World of Warcraft, Starcraft II and, more recently, Hearthstone in China. However, these figures display just how large a company NetEase has become, with massive hits on both PC and mobile that are scarcely known in Western markets.（source：gamesindustry.biz）